Kerry Clofer, 21, of 1612 Yorktowne Drive was booked with cruelty to a juvenile after evidence suggested he hit his son for knocking over a television.

"The boy had bruises around the left ear, and after a physical examination, it was learned he sustained a busted eardrum," said Capt. Dane Clement, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.

On Feb. 7, Clofer picked up his son from the boy's mother for a weeklong custody stay, Clement said. When the boy's mother picked the child up from school later that week, teachers at the school informed her about the boy's injuries, Clement said.

St. John deputies met with the mother of the 4-year-old Garyville boy, and she said her son suffered injuries while in the custody of his father, Clement said.

"When the boy was asked how he was hurt, he said he got in trouble at his daddy's house for knocking over the television, and his dad hit him," Clement said.

After an investigation by St. John detectives, an arrest warrant was issued for Clofer, and he turned himself in to detectives at the St. John Detective Bureau.

Clofer is being held at the St. John Parish Sherman Walker Correctional Center. His bail has been set at $25,000.